I Guess It's Not Such a Bad Day Afterall
by LarcolTydol
Summary: This is a response to a challenge from PortKey. I cute, fluffy little ficlet
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer - I'm only planning on doing this once. You all know the drill, the universe is JKR's this is merely an imaginative 'what if' from me. 


	2. Diagon Alley

Yep, it was that time again. Time to get the next year's supplies at Diagon Alley. Hermione always looks forward to these trips. It reminds her that it's almost time to go back into the wizarding world. Of course, the stop at Flourish and Blotts is something to look forward to as well.  
  
As Diagon Alley trips go though, this one has not been going well. First off, her parents made her go through the Alley on her own. Like most teenagers, she didn't mind so much being away from her parents, but it did mean that there was not going to be able to be any renegotiation of the departure time. Her parents were going to sit in the Leaky Cauldron and talk with Professor McGonagoll about potential future safety precautions in case the Voldemort situation gets any worse.  
  
She made her way to Gringott's to exchange the money that she was given by her parents. Her parent always made sure that she had plenty of funds to make it through school. Today though, it looks like there's a problem with the exchange rate. She didn't get back as many galleons as she thought she would. She kept track of what the exchange was, so she was quite surprised. She knew however that the goblins would not be cheating her since they enjoyed the victories they received from the settlement of the goblin wars of 1627. She just resigned herself to not being able to purchase extra books like she had hoped.  
  
"Just great, can my day get any worse?" Hermione grumbled to herself as she was leaving Gringott's. It was also when she noticed that it had started raining. Since she was alone and still underage, she was unable to get an Impervious Charm cast on her, and quickly got soaked. She ducked into Flourish and Blotts to purchase her books. This part of her trip actually went fairly well, though she was again reminded that she would not be able to purchase the advanced Occlumency book she was going to give Harry for his birthday coming up. She didn't let it get her too down though, since she was pretty sure she would be able to come up with the rest of the money in time.  
  
Since her time in Diagon Alley was quickly approaching an end, she rushed over to the apothocary's office to stock up on potion supplies. She decided she could owl order anything else she needed later in the month, she just wanted to get out of the rain.  
  
She quickly moved through the rainy near deserted alley when.. WHOOSH a fireworks rocket flew right past her head. It startled her so much she jumped a couple feet into the air and backed into the person next to her. The good news was that this person slowed her fall. The bad news was, he slowed...not stopped her fall. They both went sliding into the mud and became utterly filthy.  
  
With all of the attacks by Voldemort lately, Hermione was more concerned about a potential attack than even the person she landed on. Even though she was covered in mud and soaked from the rain, she still had her wand out quickly, ready to retaliate against her attacker.  
  
She looked over to her side and saw her friend Ron laughing hysterically. "Ronald Weasley!!! Just who do you think you are going around shooting fireworks at people? You could tell that I was soaked as it was. You thought it was a great idea to get me all muddy too, didn't you? Now what if Harry was here? Huh? Did you think of that?" Ron was suddenly getting more and more red in the face and quiet. His facial expression quickly bounced from amused, to shocked, to almost fear. He settled on fear until she finished her next sentence, then it went to total surprise. "You know I've always tried to look my best since I told you I had feelings for him. What would he ever say if he saw me like this and knew about how I felt about him?"  
A voice from below her said "He'd probably say, Could you spare a moment and help me off this cold muddy ground. Followed quickly by 'It would probably all work much better if you would get off my hand. It would make it much easier to get to my get to my feet."  
She knew that voice, with as often as she had to listen to it, she could just imagine how she looked and dreaded having to turn around.  
She looked down and saw that the person she had backed into and fallen over was none other than Harry. It only took a couple more seconds before she realized that Harry had heard every word she had just uttered. With a sharp squeak, she rushed off without even stopping to help Harry up. She didn't stop running until she burst into the door of the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't even slow down when she heard Harry's plaintive, almost begging voice "Mione...Don't go.please?" 


	3. Leaky Cauldron

Hermione kept running all the way to the Leaky Cauldron. Her thoughts were a total blur. 'I don't believe that Harry just sat there and let me say all of that without stopping me. I can't believe I said all that to begin with. How dare Ron do such a thing to me? What are they going to say to me on the train next week?' All of this and more was cycling through Hermione's head as she sat down in a secluded booth in the far corner of the inn, away from both the London and Diagon Alley entrances. She made herself look as small as possible hoping that no one came after her. She didn't even notice her parents across the room.  
  
Every few minutes she would risk a glance towards the door leading to Diagon Alley scared that Harry would have tried to follow her. 'HA, try to follow, where else would I have gone,' she berated herself. It was during one of these many sessions of self lecturing that a young man walked into the inn. He immediately recognized Hermione's parents sitting together chatting animatedly with Mrs. Weasley and started walking in that direction. This young man did not appear to be remarkable in any way, but was easily recognizable to those who knew him.  
  
"Ah, Harry," Mrs. Weasley beamed. "Are you and Ron finished getting your supplies yet?"  
  
"Almost Mrs. Weasley, but there's something I need to ask Mr. And Mrs. Granger first." He shifted his attention over to Hermione's parents with a somewhat apprehensive look in his eye. "Mr. and Mrs. Granger? I was wondering if you've seen Hermione in the last few minutes? She ran into Ron and I and then ran off towards here."  
  
"Of course Harry," Mrs. Granger started. "In fact it looks like she's sitting in the back there. She looks around every so often, but really I don't think she's noticed that we're here. Why don't you go talk with her."  
  
"I had hoped to be able to." Harry turned and worked his way across the room in a meandering manner in case Hermione noticed him. Luckily, he was able to make it without being noticed, either by Hermione or any of the potential fans in the inn.  
  
"Hermione, can we talk?" Hermione looked up at this young man, Harry Potter. Harry Potter, who saved her life from a troll and defended the Sorcerer's Stone in first year. Harry Potter, who saved Ginny's life and defended the entire school in second year. Harry Potter, who saved his godfather's life and won the Quidditch cup in third year. Harry Potter, who won the Tri-Wizard Championship and escaped from Voldemort for the fourth time in his fourth year. The man who saved Mr. Weasley's life in fifth year and escaped from Voldemort yet again on the day his godfather died. The man, who she fell in love with all those years ago, but was afraid to show it. The man, who was so much to so many other people, but to her was just plain ol Harry who has been the best friend she could ask for.  
  
Hermione looked down at the table and softly gave her permission to sit down and join her. The pair looked at each other for a few minutes wondering if the other was going to start.  
  
"Hermione, why did you run from me? Did you think I was going to make fun of you for what you said?"  
  
"Of course you would. Well, maybe not you, but Ron surely would have. He's kidded me enough about that over the past few years."  
  
"Years!?! Why didn't you tell me Hermione?"  
  
"I was scared alright! I was worried that you wouldn't feel the same or worse, not want to stay friends with you." Harry was utterly dumbstruck at this news. As if the first few revelations weren't enough.  
  
"Um, Hermione. I think I might know why Ron did that. You know how I've been at the Burrow for the last couple weeks? Well.I kinda well, told him that I, um, well, likeyoutoo." The last part was said very fast as Harry looked down at the table expecting either a slap or a round of vicious yelling. After what seemed like a few minutes to Harry, he looked up into the sweetest pair of brown eyes with silent tears running out of them. Of course, being the typical teenage male he is, he panicked.  
  
"Hermione, I didn't mean to make you cry, I'm sorry-"  
  
"Harry James Potter! Don't you ever apologize for saying that to me, you have no idea how long I've wanted you to say -" Hermione's rant was cut off mid stride by Harry impulsively reaching across the table and pulling her into a kiss that left no doubt as to his feelings for her. She tensed up at first, but quickly started to return his kisses. They kept this up for a few minutes before they were startled out of their embrace by the sound of a throat clearing. After Harry's head bounced off the table, they both looked up and were shocked to see Hermione's parents standing there with Ron and Mrs. Weasley as well. All four of them had amused looks on their faces. Hermione's jaw started moving as if she was fighting to get the words out.  
  
"Don't worry dear," Mrs. Granger said. "We've known how the two of you felt about each other for quite some time now. I'm just glad that Ron did whatever he was planning on doing to get the two of you past your own fears."  
  
Harry looked up at Hermione and said, "Why do I get the feeling that Hogwarts will be quite interesting this year." It took Hermione a couple seconds to realize what he meant, but once she did, she blushed and nodded. 


End file.
